MINEOLA, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — Nassau County Executive-elect Bruce Blakeman on Wednesday said he wants to create a bipartisan transition team and wants Democrats to know he is willing to work with them.
The incoming Republican executive held a press conference in the afternoon, during which he announced that he will be assembling his transition team in the next two weeks.
“I expect that we will have Democrats in the administration, and I expect that we will definitely have Democrats on the transition team,” he said. “It will be bipartisan.”
Blakeman added that he does not want to create a partisan divide in county politics.
“With respect to anybody who is currently holding a position in county government, I am completely open-minded. If someone is doing a good job, we will consider retaining them,” he said.
Blakeman, however, did acknowledge that “they would have to be in line, philosophically, with my agenda.”
Blakeman claimed victory over Democrat Laura Curran on Tuesday, after a tally of absentee ballots showed he had won by just 2,150 votes.
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Curran, who was elected Nassau County Executive in 2016, has already conceded.
Executive-elect Blakeman said his administration will include “the most qualified people that want to work hard for the taxpayers” and vowed that he will especially fight for the parents of Nassau County.
“I think government can get very heavy handed at times and I think that's wrong. I'm a strong believer in the constitution and individual rights,” he said.
When he takes office on Jan. 1, 2022, Blakeman said he will immediately work to ensure that parents and school districts are the one making the decision whether students should wear masks in school.
“I was very vocal during the campaign about the mask mandates for children in schools, which I think should be determined on the local level. So, again, I support that,” he said. “I think that governments shouldn't interfere with the parents with respect to any of the rights regarding their children.”
Blakeman will be the seventh Republican to serve as Nassau County Executive since the position was formally created in 1938.